


pudding cups

by cedricsboyfriend



Series: hedric shorts [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24177715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cedricsboyfriend/pseuds/cedricsboyfriend
Summary: less of a hedric short, more of a... headcanoned conversation.its another tumblr short based on the prompt: “Pudding cups are a great snack on spring afternoons,“
Relationships: Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: hedric shorts [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688842
Kudos: 59





	pudding cups

Harry stared at Lupin, not fazed by the fact that he had strolled into the kitchen looking like he had just woken up—even though the sun’s low crest in the sky suggested that it was _at least_ mid-afternoon—instead, he felt more affronted by the fact that Lupin was sucking on a spoon of pudding, and had mumbled something to him, as if still drunk on his own drowsiness.

“What?” Harry asked, holding his quill in the air. The sudden appearance distracted him despite having been in a trance-like state for hours. 

Leaning against the counter with sleeves rolled to his elbows, Lupin took the spoon out of his mouth.

“Pudding cups,” he repeated, dipping another spoonful, “You should try one, apparently they taste particularly good in this season,”

Harry put his quill down, _was there a reason he was here?_  
The house had been empty since this morning. Everyone, including all the Weasley’s, had all gone out for various reasons; the most predominant being the sales that annually swept Diagon Alley’s cobbled street. Because of this, Harry had spent the entire day by himself, making mugs of coffee and trying to avoid giving up on writing and going to bed. 

While Harry would’ve normally preferred Lupin’s company, and being under his watch, to Mundungus’s; he felt that he’d sooner open the curtains and say ‘Good morning!’ to Mrs Black than try to entertain this current moment. 

“Er, I’ll try one later,” he said eventually, taking his quill in hand again. Lupin let him scratch a few more words in a fourth paragraph, when he spoke up a second time, 

“I’m sorry if that was strange,” he said—for it was, “It’s just so odd to see _this_ ,”  
Lupin gestured to Harry’s entirety.

“This?”

“You doing homework weeks before it’s due,” he spooned another dollop of pudding, “You didn’t even do that for _my_ class.”

“I-I just thought it’d be good to get it out of the way,” 

Lupin eyed him, intrigued, “Right.”

“Right,” said Harry. He had held his quill upright for far too long. Two drops of ink had begun to tarnish his second parchment. As he began to blot it out, Lupin chewed thoughtfully and looked toward him, “Did something happen? Perhaps with Cedric?”

“What? N-No!” 

The quill, with all it’s dripping ink, clattered across the first sheet of parchment. Lupin laughed at how red Harry turned, causing him to scrutinize more than before.

“It’s odd to see you here too,” Harry said, slightly disgruntled, “Are you missing Sirius?”

Lupin froze. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re eating his pudding… You don’t even _like_ pudding,” and as Harry pointed it out, Lupin stared down at the cup inside his hands as if suddenly realizing, and deftly placed it and his teaspoon on the counter.

“You mustn’t tell anyone about this…” he said shyly.

“I think he’d be happy about it though-”

“He’d be _smug_ ,” Lupin corrected and Harry couldn’t help but laugh. It was true. After all Lupin never the taste for anything sweet but plain chocolate. 

Harry glanced around. The afternoon light had begun to dim into the evening sunset. Mrs Weasley’s cleaning spell had finally finished, and all the plates and cutlery neatly sorted itself onto the drying rack. You could hear the low ticking from the grandfather clock on the second landing, and the tap, dripping into the sink. As his smile faded, Harry leaned forward in his seat.

“But you _do_ miss him, don’t you?” he asked, solemn. 

With careful eyes, Lupin turned his gaze to the window.

“Of course,” he replied, quiet. Harry looked at the parchment in front of him;   
the words he’d agonized over, illegible and no longer mattering as much as it did before.

“I’m wasn’t doing homework,” he confessed, just as softly as Lupin did, “I was writing a letter… _to him_. I know he won’t read it but,”

Lupin seemed to know what he was thinking, “It helps.”

Harry nodded. “It helps.”

They spent a moment in silence. It was something that always happened when Harry and Lupin were left alone. And it wouldn’t take a spell to figure out what wrapped so tightly inside their heads.

Normally, Harry preferred Lupin’s company to Mundungus. But after the fight in the Ministry, sometimes it became only a painful reminder of what gaping wounds remained from that night, both within himself and within his old professor.

Harry stood up, abandoning his work for a later time, 

“So he told you that pudding cups become more delicious in spring?”

Lupin smiled, fond. 

_“Pudding cups are a great snack on spring afternoons!”_ he said, with a flourish of his arms that imitated the flair that Sirius had. Harry laughed again.

It still _hurt_.  
The edges of their hearts frayed, and neither Harry nor Lupin were strangers to scars that would never heal. But something about hurting in the same way… it made it easier for the both of them to breathe as if the entire time, their lungs had held back from doing so.

That night, Harry finished his letter and pressed the envelope to his lips. In his room, Lupin poured two cups of tea and fluffed a pillow that had gathered dust from the armchair that sat opposite to his own. 

The next morning, everyone who opened the cupboard would be surprised to find that Sirius’s pudding stash had disappeared from its usual spot on the shelf.

**Author's Note:**

> where harry and remus deal with the death of a loved one.


End file.
